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Friday, December 03, 2010

Defying Trends: Why I Choose Blogger

Today I'm participating in the Blogging Mavens part 2 series. Christina of A Closet Writeris the brains behind this 2 week informational bloggy series that will be available in eBook soon. Everything from tweeting to conferences to membership sites and a bunch in between. Tons of great blogging gouge to grab. Check it out here.

My topic? Blogger.

According to the elite of the blogging community there are better blog sites to be had. Livejournal. Typepad. Wordpress. To name a few.

Plus it's so uncool to not have your own domain. And dot com is so much more professional.

But to be very candid, when asked to write about why I use blogger my mind went blank. Truth is, some of my favorite bloggy friends have given me a nudge in the Wordpress direction from time to time. Kludgy Mom even wrote about the benefits of Wordpress.

And today I'm here to discuss the burning question, Why? Why am I still here?

Free

For starters I'm a huge fan of anything free. Call me what you will, I'd rather have my hair done. Not only is blogspot's software free, but the hosting is also free through blogger. Perhaps if I had big bloggy aspirations and a gazillion followers, I might consider paying the man, but for now free is perfect for where I am in my blogging journey.

User Friendly

I am not ashamed to admit that I am no tech savvy genius. Tech challenged is more like it. And although blogspot does require some knowledge of HTML codes, you can fudge your way through most of it just fine regardless of your level of computer knowledge. I even expanded my margins all by myself to share larger photos. Yeah me. But I think blogspot makes it pretty easy to figure out most functions, from setting up a template to customizing to using widgets to posting.

Google Owned

Blogspot is owned by google and whether we like it or not, they rule cyber space. By using a google owned blog, you can log in with your gmail account or use google tools such as AdSense or google analytics seamlessly. You know, if you care about monetizing or keeping track of numbers.

Simple

I think blogs should reflect your personlity. I for one am a HUGE fan of all things simple. No unnecessary clutter. With blogspot I have managed to achieve this. When I enter I don't feel frazzled. There are no flashing images or loud, busy prints. No confusing boxes or overwhelming amounts of text. I recently added some pages at the top of my blog to condense some of the elements in my sidebar. Believe it or not, sometimes less is more.

Comfortable

I have used blogspot for nearly 3 years now. We've become a bit chummy. I know it well and am comfortable posting. Sure, there are glitches from time to time, but what blog site doesn't experience glitches?

Blogger may not have all the perks of some of the other sites, but in this crazy, ever changing, fast paced world, it's nice to have one thing that you know that doesn't change on a dime. To me blogspot is like slipping on your favorite fuzzy robe.

Plus, didn't you ever learn that old saying, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"?

Or "If it ain't broke don't fix it." And it ain't broke yet...

However, I do back it upfrom time to time just to be safe. It's so easy you'd be nuts not to.

But in my opinion you don't have to have Wordpress or your own domain to connect with followers. Even though the latest greatest bloggy trends are tempting, it's more about the material and vibe you present than which blog site you use- at least for me at this stage of the game.

Because for now I'm perfectly content with my beautiful mess right here. Thanks for joining me at this leg of my blogging journey.

32 comments:

These are the exact reasons I love blogger! Simple, easy, user-friendly, and comfortable. I tried Wordpress once upon a time, but it felt like shoes that were too tight and pinching me all around, so I gave up :)

I started out with Wordpress.com and I refuse to upgrade to .org for most of the reasons you like blogger (free, I'm not tech savvy). And I had no idea Google owned Blogger. They're pretty much going to rule the world, so you may as well be on their team.

So true! I bought my own domain thru Wordpress a few days ago and had no idea they charge extra if you want to use your own CSS! I alerted Rob and he immediately cancelled it and we're now hosting through another site for much cheaper, with much more room and bandwidth. I would like to have more design options and subdomains, BUT I have to say my eyes almost fell out when I saw how much they were charging.

It's great to hear this perspective. I actually love blogger and don't have a reason to go anywhere else. I really do love that it's a seamless operation for me...and ya know, we can have a dot com if we want to...you can purchase the domain from blogger and it's seamless! Less is more for me! Keep blogging!

I was on blogger for 3 years. I did end up switching to wordpress.org. I have a couple blogs on wordpress.com too, but really? if you are looking for free? blogger is the best FREE site out there, I think. and you can own your domain and stay on blogger. I did that for a few months.

Alicia, great post! I am a Blogger follower and although it can be a pain sometimes, it is what I know. I try to go with Wordpress at one point but it was too confussing for me. I really like Blogger, bottom line. :) I do have a question about something you said. How do you backup your Blog? I've only been blogging since March so there are some areas that I am new to. Angie

I'm with you on this. I tried wordpress and I felt dumb cause I can't figure it out, lol. I bought my own domain name (for $10/year, yeah me!) because, if you remember, my old name was just too long for anybody to remember. Even I was getting tired when I had to type it in, ;)

I have to admit I loved Blogger, and was very happy with it - but I made the jump to Wordpress and am now liking it. WP is definitely NOT user friendly and takes a lot more patience to figure out what I try to, but I'm really liking having my "own" blog :)

Wow, you are a huge hit with the Blogger crowd! lol I, of course, belong to the dark side. I've tried luring you over with cookies, but it doesn't seem to be working. lol Oh well... One thing I will say that Blogger has going for it is that compared to wordpress.com, there's more options as far as widgets go. You can't use HTML widgets on wordpress.com (the free site). Great post Lish! How awesome that it'll be included in an e-book! Have a great weekend.

You hit it right on the nail! Blogger has done right by me so why fix what's not broken. A friend recently changed to wordpress after being with blogger for years and she doesn't blog as much as she did (not sure if it's the change of hosting or life in general) and when she does blog, it's not as fun for me. I like that if I comment on blogger and choose to read followups, I can without having to subscribe to that particular post. Anyways, always enjoy your blog. Rock on!

Ahhh boo. I just wrote a nice long comment and it got munched. to sum up - YAY i love blogger... and chaging to my own domain on blogger was easy and cheap ($10/yr)plus I love the design flexibility.I have been missing visiting my bloggy freinds lately... stopped by to see if I am too late Project Smile??xx

I am definitely still with Blogger and probably will stay that way. I loved all of your points. Even people with a gazillion followers, like Hyperbole and a Half, are still with Blogger. So, goooooooooo, Blogger! Go, Fight, Win!!

I tried the blog creator in Go Daddy because it was free with my .com address. I couldn't figure out how to use it. I had tried blogger but hadn't done much. I found the blog frog by accident and saw what people were doing in blogger so I switched back and have been happy since then. I have to give credit to people in blog frog with help on some of the html stuff. The other day I was helping a neighbor with her blog. I see it as pay it forward...